Melissa J. Blake
Josie Tierney-Fife
English 9 Advanced
22 March 2010
Genetic Engineering in Animals in America
Part 1
I can not say that I ever thought much about genetic engineering in animals. It was never my first choice for my I-Search; actually, far from it. My first choice was the tasmanian tiger, but that was shot down due to the lack of available interviewees. The history of veterinary medicine, my next choice, proved to not have enough reliable information. Eventually I decided on genetic engineering in animals, a topic I knew nothing about and did not care very much to research. Of course, when you’re running out of time, you will try any topic that someone suggests. It turns out that I made a great topic choice. Genetic engineering in animals proved to be a fascinating and well documented subject. Of course, I had a lot of work ahead of me to write my I-Search on the topic of genetic engineering in animals, in America.
To begin with, I did not know much about genetic engineering, other than what is common knowledge. I knew that genetic engineering was the manipulation of DNA to give animals new traits, new purposes in life. Genetically engineered animals are created for many reasons, to make pharmaceuticals, to grow faster and produce more meat, or to grow a different animal’s body parts instead of their own, natural ones. These animals are a highly controversial topic. Yes, they can produce medications and meat quicker than existing methods, but is it right to mess with their DNA? Is it ethical to change animals and “play God”? I could never view genetic engineering as ethical after the stories of horror I saw on the news or read about in the classroom, animals in pain due to what people had done to them. None of the stories effected me like one I remember reading about in school. A pig was implanted with a cow growth hormone so that it grew more large and meaty than the conventional pig. This poor animal’s eyes were covered by its own fat folds, its heart could not pump blood for its massive body, and its legs could not take its own weight. It could barely walk an inch with its arthritis racked limbs. This bothered me very much. Could it ever be right to make a creature go through this much pain, just to get a little more meat off its body when it died? Questions like this made me want to investigate genetic engineering further.
I needed find so much new information for my I-Search. The simple concepts of the topic were all I knew. To write a good paper I would need to learn so much more than that. There were many questions that I had, ones that I wanted to address in my I-Search. What is genetic engineering exactly and how is it done in animals? Why use genetic engineering? What does it accomplish? How are genetically engineered animals regulated and what is done to ensure their and their products safety? What are some recent examples? What are the pros and cons? It was clear I had a lot of research ahead to answer these and more questions I had in my I-Search.
Melissa J. Blake
Josie Tierney-Fife
English 9 Advanced
22 March 2010
Part 2
I had not given much thought to the I-Search project until third quarter had come around, even though Mrs. TF had talked about it multiple times since the first day of school. I instantly knew what I wanted to do as a topic for my I-Search though, something that had fascinated me for years. I wanted to write my paper on the thylacine, a.k.a the Tasmanian tiger. Of course, no matter how excited I was to do this topic, it was not approved. I cannot complain though, I agree it would be very difficult to find an interview with a expert on an animal that went extinct some 70 years ago. I then started to research my approved secondary topic, the history of veterinary medicine. That is when I learned that no one writes reliable websites on the history of veterinary medicine. I sadly realized this after I wrote my entire part 1. After conferencing with Mrs. T-F and quickly researching a few topics, I decided on the topic of genetic engineering in animals.
As I started researching my topic, I found many FDA websites on genetic engineering. These that gave me all the basic information I needed on what genetic engineering is, what it is for, and how it regulated. I had not thought of writing about how genetic engineering was regulated originally, but the regulation is a big part of such a controversial topic. Most of consumer’s concerns are about how the precautions taken to ensure that GE animal’s products are safe. Most of this information was only relatable to America though, so I decided to narrow my topic to genetic engineering in animals in America.
After this it was a struggle to find recent examples of genetic engineering. All websites were either dated or so recent that genetically engineered animals were still in creation or waiting to be approved. You can’t put half a story in a paper. This was no longer an issue after Mrs. TF introduced SIRS, which had plenty of recent and complete articles. With three articles from SIRS and one article I found on a news website, I had plenty of articles. Writing notecards came next, which was painfully boring and long work. At least it was fairly simple.
Finding an interview was the hardest part for me. I knew no one who knew anything about genetic engineering. I contacted the WISE Laboratory at USM, and the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health, Jackson Laboratory, and a friend of a relative of Mrs. TF, hoping they would help me. WISE never called back, nor did the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health. Jackson Laboratory never retuned my email, and the email address for the friend, a student who was working a tiny bit with genetic engineering that was a friend of a relative of Mrs. TF’s email was not working with mine. By the time she sent me her working email address, it was days later than I should have had an interview, and she sent me an email with the information I wanted. Apparently, this did not count as an interview. In the end I had an interview with Mrs. Mulrey, a biology teacher, that Mrs. AW said would help. The interview was quick, but I got a lot of information on the pros and cons of genetic engineering.
After my long awaited interview, I could finish writing. This was very easy. Since I took information from the websites and rewrote it in long paragraphs on my notecards, all I had to do was write my notecards together into my I-Search. Doing this made notecards take forever to finish, but made writing very quick. Though, finding the right conclusion and transition words for sub-topics was hard. I did not want to confuse readers or bring my own opinion into the paper, and I was worried that conclusions and transitions would do that. Part 3 was fairly simple to write because of notecards, but part 1 and this part 2 were difficult because they are more personal. It just took longer to get my thoughts together on paper.
As far as the I-Search goes as a project, I did not have fun. It was overall not bad. Research and notecards were simple, but parts of the I-Search seemed unnecessary to me. Why we need to include two parts of a four part paper just on how why choose the topic and how the I-Search “experience was”. Come on, this is an information paper. No one wants to read about students “thoughts” and “feelings”. Besides, if the paper is supposed to bring information to a reader, then why would a writer add their thoughts and feelings. It adds a bias to the paper. It is the duty of an informational writer to bring unbiased information to the reader, unless the paper is supposed to be persuasive. So, I thought all the “extra” parts were unnecessary. Not to mention, I struggled greatly to find an interview. I understand that interviews are a part of the “research experience”, but after you tried to hard to get an interview, are you not entitled to get a little leeway? Of course, I did learn a great deal about genetic engineering and how to write a research paper better than I ever did before. I never knew that you should have sub-topics, or that you need to cite you sources in your paper, not just in the works cited. Not to mention, I now know how to cite sources better than ever. This said, I think the I-Search was all in all a good project.
Josie Tierney-Fife
English 9 Advanced
22 March 2010
Genetic Engineering in Animals in America
Part 1
I can not say that I ever thought much about genetic engineering in animals. It was never my first choice for my I-Search; actually, far from it. My first choice was the tasmanian tiger, but that was shot down due to the lack of available interviewees. The history of veterinary medicine, my next choice, proved to not have enough reliable information. Eventually I decided on genetic engineering in animals, a topic I knew nothing about and did not care very much to research. Of course, when you’re running out of time, you will try any topic that someone suggests. It turns out that I made a great topic choice. Genetic engineering in animals proved to be a fascinating and well documented subject. Of course, I had a lot of work ahead of me to write my I-Search on the topic of genetic engineering in animals, in America.
To begin with, I did not know much about genetic engineering, other than what is common knowledge. I knew that genetic engineering was the manipulation of DNA to give animals new traits, new purposes in life. Genetically engineered animals are created for many reasons, to make pharmaceuticals, to grow faster and produce more meat, or to grow a different animal’s body parts instead of their own, natural ones. These animals are a highly controversial topic. Yes, they can produce medications and meat quicker than existing methods, but is it right to mess with their DNA? Is it ethical to change animals and “play God”? I could never view genetic engineering as ethical after the stories of horror I saw on the news or read about in the classroom, animals in pain due to what people had done to them. None of the stories effected me like one I remember reading about in school. A pig was implanted with a cow growth hormone so that it grew more large and meaty than the conventional pig. This poor animal’s eyes were covered by its own fat folds, its heart could not pump blood for its massive body, and its legs could not take its own weight. It could barely walk an inch with its arthritis racked limbs. This bothered me very much. Could it ever be right to make a creature go through this much pain, just to get a little more meat off its body when it died? Questions like this made me want to investigate genetic engineering further.
I needed find so much new information for my I-Search. The simple concepts of the topic were all I knew. To write a good paper I would need to learn so much more than that. There were many questions that I had, ones that I wanted to address in my I-Search. What is genetic engineering exactly and how is it done in animals? Why use genetic engineering? What does it accomplish? How are genetically engineered animals regulated and what is done to ensure their and their products safety? What are some recent examples? What are the pros and cons? It was clear I had a lot of research ahead to answer these and more questions I had in my I-Search.
Melissa J. Blake
Josie Tierney-Fife
English 9 Advanced
22 March 2010
Part 2
I had not given much thought to the I-Search project until third quarter had come around, even though Mrs. TF had talked about it multiple times since the first day of school. I instantly knew what I wanted to do as a topic for my I-Search though, something that had fascinated me for years. I wanted to write my paper on the thylacine, a.k.a the Tasmanian tiger. Of course, no matter how excited I was to do this topic, it was not approved. I cannot complain though, I agree it would be very difficult to find an interview with a expert on an animal that went extinct some 70 years ago. I then started to research my approved secondary topic, the history of veterinary medicine. That is when I learned that no one writes reliable websites on the history of veterinary medicine. I sadly realized this after I wrote my entire part 1. After conferencing with Mrs. T-F and quickly researching a few topics, I decided on the topic of genetic engineering in animals.
As I started researching my topic, I found many FDA websites on genetic engineering. These that gave me all the basic information I needed on what genetic engineering is, what it is for, and how it regulated. I had not thought of writing about how genetic engineering was regulated originally, but the regulation is a big part of such a controversial topic. Most of consumer’s concerns are about how the precautions taken to ensure that GE animal’s products are safe. Most of this information was only relatable to America though, so I decided to narrow my topic to genetic engineering in animals in America.
After this it was a struggle to find recent examples of genetic engineering. All websites were either dated or so recent that genetically engineered animals were still in creation or waiting to be approved. You can’t put half a story in a paper. This was no longer an issue after Mrs. TF introduced SIRS, which had plenty of recent and complete articles. With three articles from SIRS and one article I found on a news website, I had plenty of articles. Writing notecards came next, which was painfully boring and long work. At least it was fairly simple.
Finding an interview was the hardest part for me. I knew no one who knew anything about genetic engineering. I contacted the WISE Laboratory at USM, and the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health, Jackson Laboratory, and a friend of a relative of Mrs. TF, hoping they would help me. WISE never called back, nor did the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health. Jackson Laboratory never retuned my email, and the email address for the friend, a student who was working a tiny bit with genetic engineering that was a friend of a relative of Mrs. TF’s email was not working with mine. By the time she sent me her working email address, it was days later than I should have had an interview, and she sent me an email with the information I wanted. Apparently, this did not count as an interview. In the end I had an interview with Mrs. Mulrey, a biology teacher, that Mrs. AW said would help. The interview was quick, but I got a lot of information on the pros and cons of genetic engineering.
After my long awaited interview, I could finish writing. This was very easy. Since I took information from the websites and rewrote it in long paragraphs on my notecards, all I had to do was write my notecards together into my I-Search. Doing this made notecards take forever to finish, but made writing very quick. Though, finding the right conclusion and transition words for sub-topics was hard. I did not want to confuse readers or bring my own opinion into the paper, and I was worried that conclusions and transitions would do that. Part 3 was fairly simple to write because of notecards, but part 1 and this part 2 were difficult because they are more personal. It just took longer to get my thoughts together on paper.
As far as the I-Search goes as a project, I did not have fun. It was overall not bad. Research and notecards were simple, but parts of the I-Search seemed unnecessary to me. Why we need to include two parts of a four part paper just on how why choose the topic and how the I-Search “experience was”. Come on, this is an information paper. No one wants to read about students “thoughts” and “feelings”. Besides, if the paper is supposed to bring information to a reader, then why would a writer add their thoughts and feelings. It adds a bias to the paper. It is the duty of an informational writer to bring unbiased information to the reader, unless the paper is supposed to be persuasive. So, I thought all the “extra” parts were unnecessary. Not to mention, I struggled greatly to find an interview. I understand that interviews are a part of the “research experience”, but after you tried to hard to get an interview, are you not entitled to get a little leeway? Of course, I did learn a great deal about genetic engineering and how to write a research paper better than I ever did before. I never knew that you should have sub-topics, or that you need to cite you sources in your paper, not just in the works cited. Not to mention, I now know how to cite sources better than ever. This said, I think the I-Search was all in all a good project.